LIFESTYLE // So we're out

That's it. The votes have been counted and the UK wants to leave the EU.

Honestly, and personally, I am very upset with this result. I went out and voted. I talked to customers and colleagues at work. I was tweeting about it quite a lot in hopes that it would reach even a few more people. I did all I could and evidently that was not enough. I am worried about my future. I am worried for the future of my friends. Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do about this now. We live in a democracy and the votes have been cast. There is a petition here which you can join (arguing for a 2nd referendum where a majority will equal 60% unless 75% of the population vote) which I feel are fair terms. Is it fair to hold a second referendum? Perhaps not. However, with a campaign which I felt was very rushed and did not give any certain fact maybe it is required. It was very irresponsible for the referendum to have been announced but we're here now so I guess we'd best deal with it.

I didn't make it particularly secret that I didn't think our issues are with the EU. We have a government that is flawed. We have a government who are not working for the youth because we are not a majority when voting is concerned. The number of elderly outnumber those of us under 25 in the polls. Why would they focus on us? Instead, they introduced tuition fees (Labour did that fyi - the conservatives only increased them) and they said they were going to build us affordable housing which hasn't surfaced. As millennials, we have higher costs of living, increasingly raising rent and highly educated individuals forced into redundancy or failing to secure a stable job. We have a government who are not working for the generation who are going to make the future bright. That's just not right.

I am shocked that so many have put faith in so few people who have previously not given me any reason to trust them. However, people can vote however they wish. If they feel that we will do better without the EU, who are a thorn in our side at times, then that's great. I personally do not have that optimism. I have benefited from the EU whilst many I have spoken to have not. Consequently, they wanted to vote leave. People have the right to choose what they think will benefit them. However, what benefits one person does not benefit another and this is a problem with democracy itself. The UK government do not seem to concern themselves with the bigger picture, but with small changes they can make in their 4 years of leadership. The EU took full control from a government who I didn't trust. They kept our government just that little bit more honest (in my opinion of course).

I am not happy with the majority being by just 4%. I do not feel that is representative. For me, on a day to day basis, that is a rounding error. I think for such a big decision the majority should have been bigger. Remain were the minority but we are almost the same size as the group who wanted to leave. As a result WE need to make sure that OUR GOVERNMENT take our views into account. We may be a minority but we are by no means a small minority and so we need to be represented just as much as those who wanted to leave. However, for this to take place we may have to fight. We may have to actually get involved and *shudder* be interested in politics.

At the end of the day, I do not feel like I was educated enough to make this decision. I have been looking up this, that and everything over the past few weeks and I did not feel like I had enough information to make a definite decision. Was it educated? Somewhat, yes. However, I am not an expert. I very much doubt the average UK citizen put as much thought and research into it as I did. There will be some that did more. There will be some that did less. What can we conclude from this? We as a public were probably not well educated on the facts and instead were voting based on very emotive issues. Politicians were exploiting our fears and as a result we've ended up with a greedy, knee jerk reaction.

There is one thing that I am happy about. We have had an amazing voting turn out of 72% and that is fantastic. We need to keep this up. If anything (I'm paraphrasing my friend Emma here but I wholeheartedly agree with her) this will hopefully shock the population out of the political apathy that has been felt for my entire life.

This is our country. This is our future. We need to get involved. We need to know the facts. We need to make sure our government are working for US (not the United States but us as a population). We are the ones that keep and will continue to keep this country moving. Our views need to be heard.

We're here now. It looks like we're leaving the EU. We need to stop hating on each other (it's happening from both sides - you cannot blame one ideology). We now need to be a united country working together to keep it running. All we can do is make the most of a bad situation. It's unfortunate that this referendum has brought out so much hatred and discrimination but hopefully we can teach each other wider views and work together so that we do come out a more dynamic country. We deserve to be a force to be reckoned with.

Also, if one more person tells me to 'get over it' I may have to take up some sort of martial arts. This decision should not have been taken lightly and directly affects my future, the stability of my country and my career. Sorry for having an interest in things that directly affect me mate. 

I'm hoping I was wrong. I'm hoping those who voted to leave know something I don't. I really hope that the economy does pick up like they tell us it will. Either way there was going to be depression but I'm shocked it was so big, so soon. I am honestly a little more than scared for my future and, whilst we could have been in the same position we had decided to stay, we're here now. We need to pull together and stay united as a country. It's flawed, but it's the best we can do.

What have your thoughts been on the referendum? Are you now more inclined to stay involved in politics? Should we all be keeping quiet now? Am I overreacting? Let me know!

*mic drop*